A young woman was rushed to the hospital, where doctors informed her that she had only a few hours left to live, before uncovering her husband’s dark secret.
Hannah Pettey, aged 25, had been unwell for half a year and spent most of the week leading up to her hospital admission confined to her bed. One day, feeling something was seriously wrong with her health, she reached out to her mother, Nicole, who promptly took her to see a doctor. Initially, medical professionals did not detect any abnormalities and were prepared to discharge her until Hannah insisted that she would not survive if sent home. On January 18, 2022, she suffered a seizure and remained unconscious for 48 hours.
Following the seizure, doctors placed Hannah in a medically induced coma and conducted vital tests to diagnose her condition.
Nicole, speaking to CBS News, recounted the shocking news relayed by the medical team, stating, “She was skin and bones… they informed me that she was essentially starving to death and had only hours left to live.”
After an agonizing eight-day wait, doctors informed Hannah, hailing from Alabama, that she had an “astronomical amount of lead” in her system.
Nicole explained, “There was no space in her stomach for anything else. It was completely filled with lead, and there were traces of lead in her bones as well.”
Medical experts believed that Hannah could not have consumed such a high level of lead accidentally or on her own. Consequently, the police launched an investigation, focusing on Hannah’s husband, Brian Mann, and Nicole.
Authorities made a chilling discovery, uncovering that Hannah’s husband had been poisoning her. Despite Hannah’s belief that Mann, a chiropractor, was caring for her during her deteriorating health, he was secretly attempting to end her life through surreptitious means. Police revealed that Mann had been providing his wife with vitamins that were potentially tampered with.
Hannah recalled a particular incident when Mann urged her to take the vitamins, despite her severe pain and nausea, emphasizing the importance of consumption.
Upon her recovery, Hannah initially considered returning home and delaying the divorce proceedings. However, following discussions with the police, who requested her to sign a document halting the investigation, she opted to proceed with the divorce.
Hannah also expressed her desire to assist law enforcement in scrutinizing her husband, discovering that he had obtained life insurance policies on her years before their marriage. Moreover, during her hospitalization, Mann acquired additional insurance policies totaling approximately £3 million in potential payouts upon her demise.
Further investigations unveiled that Mann had commissioned a lead-lined X-ray machine in his clinic, with a contractor disclosing that Mann insisted on handling the excess lead disposal personally.
In August 2025, Mann was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Despite his conviction, Mann maintains his innocence, attributing blame to Nicole for allegedly poisoning Hannah with lead-laced milkshakes – an accusation vehemently denied by both women.